Affirmation
by shellalana
Summary: With the war against Rendain over, Reyna Valeria seeks to look for her parents lost to Dark Space. She needs someone who can take her there and back, only to find that the only person who can is someone who wants her dead.
1. Deport

The war was over. With Rendain shoved into the Void, everyone could breathe a little easier. Varelsi swarms were easier to take care of without the Jennerit Commander in charge, and that meant the Valkyrie could finally take some time for herself. A strange thing, given she'd been looking for this day for ages. One would think she'd be fueled by this turn of events and help to finally drive the final nail into the coffin that would keep the Varelsi out of their lives forever.

But no, she was choosing now of all times to seek a vacation. A break from it all before she herself broke. Drawn too tight and she would soon snap, and that's not what her Rogues needed. What they needed was their leader at their best, and she couldn't give them that if her mind was constantly flooded with worries and concerns as to what was on the other side.

Shayne's trip into Dark Space proved that there were still buildings, planets, the remnants of civilization before they'd been darkened. She only had to cross her fingers that there were people too... her parents in particular. She just needed someone else to take her, someone with the right disposition and deep enough pockets to keep quiet about the whole thing. The last thing she needed was the entire Detritus Ring learning that they were without their Valkyrie.

 _Steady, girl_. _You're gonna be alright_.

It became a mantra as Reyna strolled towards the solitary ship at the far side of her Chunk. The docks this far out were completely empty, usually reserved for emergency ships carrying deliveries or restocking for another fight. But with Solus saved, many of their captains had returned to their usual lines of work: black market shipping, transport ships, smuggling, to name a few. She had no qualms against them leaving. After all, everyone was going to have to return to their normal way of life eventually. It was just occurring sooner for some than others.

"The Blind Shark" was written across the side of the ship in neat, silvery letters. A fitting name for a ship with a captain who played no favourites with those he devoured and destroyed. She was at the top of his list too, though he'd never been bold enough to cross her on his own. Smart. And that made him even more dangerous.

What it lacked in size, it more than made up for in appearance. It was the polar opposite of her Favour: black, immaculate, and with all the working parts to take it to Dark Space and back without any issues. It was only a matter of what she would have to pay in exchange.

Each step up the plank was excruciatingly heavy, each begging for her to stay, whispering into her ear that this was a mistake. To turn back and forget this idle venture. There would be other, easier ways of discovering the truth. But being the Valkyrie had never been easy, and she'd waiting long enough. It was about time she started being selfish for a chance and looking for herself.

The scent of sweet spices greeted her once she was inside, the interior resembling less like a ship and more of a bazaar. It was covered in extravagant accessories, trophies, richly dyed fabrics, and more knick knacks than anyone could ask for. Reyna once dreamed of having such luxuries, surrounding herself with the spoils of her work and all the riches that she could afford, but a different calling in life had made her resort to the simple.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of the man she'd come here to see, his form sprawled across his large chair, a now-care attitude written across his posture. Smirking lips held onto the end of a long pipe, a trail of scented smoke eking out of its end. His sudden presence stopped her in her tracks, stole her thoughts, and left her feeling absolutely and completely... naked. She had no control here in his domain.

"Well, well, well... if it isn't my favourite Queen of the Ring..." The main quirked a smile at the Valkyrie as twin plumes of smoke sprayed from his nostrils.  
"Come. Sit." He beckoned to the velvet grey chair across from him, removing the pipe only long enough to tap some ashes out of the end into an ash tray. She was the last person he'd expected to see aboard his ship, or asking him for help. The message he'd received had been encoded so deeply, he'd had no way of tracing it back to the source. So discovering that it was the Valkyrie who had sought him out was surprising, but also definitely worthwhile. Oh, how far he could reach into her pockets...

Reyna stared back at the almost-silver eyes as she took a seat, feeling completely out of place. Which was unusual for someone of her standing who tried to accommodate herself to those around her. Worry fluttered behind her ribs and tensed her grip against the arms of the chair. Worry that was well-founded, given their past.

Siali was a man who had challenged her once before, eager to take the Ring for himself and turn it into a den of sin for anyone who was daring enough to enter. She'd been the only one to stand in his way and kill his dream, turning the asteroid belt into a safe haven, a place of safety for those who couldn't fight. She'd thought by demonstrating how much good she could do, Siali would have come to his senses and seen the bigger picture. Instead, he'd held onto an Aplian-sized grudge and sought to thwart her at every turn. But the people of the Ring knew better, had seen the good she was capable of, and there was nothing he could do to turn them to his cause. He'd lost his chances of making it big and lining his pockets.

"So what can I do for you today, cherie?" The tilt of his head and the subtle toss of his hair over his shoulder parched her throat, and Reyna found it hard to swallow. No one knew where she was, and that meant no backup if things went south. Without her crew and being on someone else's ship, she was more than a sitting duck since she had nothing to hold over Siali's head. Keeping to himself had kept her blackmail folder on him quite empty.

"I need you to take me out there. To Dark Space."

Smoke billowed out with a cough of surprise. The great Valkyrie, coming to him for help and leaving behind her Ring to venture into the unknown... That was telling: she was desperate, and he was the only one who could supply her with the answer she sought.

He could tell her no and watch her crumple before him, hold it over her head like some veritable carrot constantly out of her reach. That would be satisfying enough, to see her reduced to an emotional wreck. Or he could say yes. That would mean weeks together in each other's presence, to learn what she kept so close to her chest and use it for later. There were only a choice few who knew her secrets, and if discovering those would topple her reign, then he wasn't against going to such lengths.

Not to mention if something were to... happen, the Ring would be left defenceless, her people would run rampant with no one holding everything down. It would be chaos... and he could be there to catch the pieces and put them back together against in an arrangement more suitable to his liking.

He smiled at the thought, and Reyna felt her blood instantly turn cold.

"Siali..." she warned, her gaze narrowing with deep-rooted suspicion. His lack of alliances and loyalty made him a wild card, one not even she could trust on her bad days. But her desperation won out and kept her rooted to her seat.

"Don't bend the rules of the game, cherie. You know how this works." As he took another draw from his pipe and righted himself in his chair, he leaned closer, his smile fading. His nostrils flared with his grimace, and he blew a stream fo the spiced smoke into her face. "You can't have everything."

Reyna waved it away, returning a challenging stare of her own. There was no way she was going to let this man take everything she had worked for in transforming the Ring and turn it into a money-making venture to line his own pockets.

"Neither can you." She dared to reach across the space between them and pluck the pipe from his fingers. She wiped the mouthpiece across the thigh of her jeans, and took a long draw of the burning drug. "This'll kill you eventually, and when it does-"

"When is a long time, cherie. A lot can happen before then." He leaned back in his chair, his languid attitude returning, and watched as the crushed leaves went to work on her. Her pupil was already constricting into fine points despite the dim overhead lighting.

Reyna found it difficult to focus with everything before her wrapped in sharpened outlines and details. Everything seemed more stark, crisp. The image of Siali before her got up and walked away, beckoning for her to follow. Then she was getting up... yet not at the same time. It was as if she'd been disconnected from her body and was watching it leave. Panic struck her as she tried to figure out how to call it back.

Siali started to count backwards from eight, until...

Reyna winced at the sudden headache, the scene before her returning to normal. The hallucination had been more than disorienting, and she had to hug herself to ensure all of her was still there. Thankfully, the headache was gone within a second or two.

"The headaches become more bearable. Can't say the same for you, though. Maybe... we should do something about that." He stood with a wave of his hand, and headed towards the bridge.

Reyna snatched off her eyepatch and crumpled it in her fist until her knuckled turned white.

 _You can't have everything._

"Let's just get this over with, ' _cherie_.'" Reyna tested the steadiness of her legs before following, muttered a quick prayer under her breath, and followed.


	2. Indirect Voice

After showing her around the ship and bragging about all the things it could do, Siali left her to his quarters to unpack and settle in. With only just the one room, they were going to have to share the living space, but he assured her that she could have the bed. "No funny business" he'd said with a smirk before he headed to the bridge to take them out of port.

But that was the least of her worries. Instead, she focused on the road ahead: getting there, what they would find, and if they got back in one piece, what he would ask from her as payment. He'd left that part of their negotiation unfinished, which either meant he wanted to keep it a surprise, or he hadn't decided how much he wanted to screw out of her.

Dinner had been eaten mostly in silence, a few comments on the spiced meal and where he'd acquired it from. She hid her disbelief on hearing that he'd made it himself, from scratch, no less. Another brag to try and put himself in her good graces.

Satisfied, she'd retired to the bed to look over the small things she'd left unfinished, a few chores that could be taken care of easily through her holodevice while they were still in range of the network. A few checklists here, a moving around of inventory there, and she could rest without those concerns weighing on her shoulders. But not with the silence she found herself in. Living with the Rogues had encouraged and bred a lively din that made the Favour feel like a home, filling it with a noise that most others would find unbearable. Instead, it was what gave her comfort that they were still there and well, under her protection.

The hum of the engines and their vibrations throughout the ship were the only things providing her with solace, and that, too, soon ended.

"We're drifting. Don't know how much fuel we'll need to get out of there." Siali appeared in the doorway, already peeling his coat and shirt off, and tossing it to one corner of the room.

"Better to be safe than sorry," Reyna replied, pretending to be busy with her datapad. Any look would encourage conversation out of him, and she simply wanted to be left alone.

Thankfully, he said nothing more as he kicked off his pants behind him, his path taking him to the bathroom across from the bed. He was just starting to take down his drawers when he disappeared out of view, and the sound of rushing water began. A few minutes more, and steam soon billowed out of the open doorway, coating anything nearby with a layer of condensation.

Peace and quiet, at last. She didn't need Siali knowing about her affairs and her attachments, those she kept close to her chest when she needed a reminder of who and what she was fighting for. It would only be another crack in her armour for her to abuse. The only real things left in her life to hold onto.

Reyna stared down at the holodevice in her lap, trying to construct the right message in her mind before she typed it up. But everything she thought of sounded like an excuse layered with an apology, when that was the last thing she wanted to send. It was none of their business, and she shouldn't have to justify her reasons for leaving without a word.

But guilt... guilt was a funny thing.

She touched the screen to wake it up for the umpteenth time. Her finger hovered over the record button.

"You don't hurry, this water's gonna go cold, cherie."

She winced, her concentration broken.

"Don't wait on me," she yelled back, re-steeling herself all over again to begin the seemingly impossible task.

* * *

"You're probably wondering where I am about now. And you're probably also pissed that I left without saying anything, and I've got a good reason for that. I don't need any of you following me out there, into Dark Space. What we know about what's out there isn't enough for me, so I need to see it for myself."

* * *

Reyna paused the recording to regather her thoughts, knowing that she was letting her pesky emotions interfere with her thoughts. They worked for her. That was the gist of it. At least, that's all it was _supposed_ to be.

* * *

"I'm not above taking risks like all of you, and I know it seems stupid that I'm going without you, but it's not. I'm... doing this to protect you. Cuz you need me at my best, and not knowing is going to drive me crazy. I need to find out if they're alive. ... look, if I never come back, then-"

* * *

A wet hand snatched the device from her lap. Silver eyes stared her down, narrowed in suspicion as Siali paused the recording.

"I thought you had more faith in me than that, Valkyrie. You're coming back." He stood there with a towel around his waist, dripping onto the plush rug beneath his feet. A few more swipes and button presses of the device, and the lighthearted ping indicated the file had been deleted.

The shower behind him was still on; Reyna had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn't heard his approach. His confidence that they'd return _should_ have made her feel better, but it didn't.

"Why do you even give a s**t?" Her continued grabs for her device all failed as he kept it just out of her reach. Short of physically climbing him - or punching him somewhere terrible - there was no way she was going to get it from him.

"I like having satisfied customers. People hear I took the Valkyrie out on my ship and didn't come back, I'd lose business mighty fast, don't you think?" He readjusted the knot on his towel, just to spare her from seeing _all_ of him.

"That's all you care about?" Another failed grab turned into a grip on his arm, and with just a swivel of her hip against his, she had him up and over and thrown to the ground like the wet rag doll he was. The air rushed out of him with his back hitting the floor, his hand still guarding his precious cargo with the towel. His other managed to keep the device from being smashed on the ground.

Dazed, he blinked up at her, his confidence splintered into a million pieces. He knew she was formidable, that she could throw her weight around despite her size, but he'd never experienced it for himself.

Soon, a smile broke his confusion before he rolled himself back onto his feet. He pulled back the strands of wet hair that clung to his face and beard, and tossed her device back to her.

"Keeps things simple. You should know, you used to be _just like me_." He shouldered his way past her and shed the towel without a care, returning to the shower he'd left running. A few squeaks of the dial, and the water was off.

"You should watch those emotions of yours, Valkyrie. They'll be your undoing," he called from the bathroom as he got dressed. It was obviously in a hurry, as he soon exited with his shirt soaked, neglecting (or choosing not) to dry himself completely.

"You don't know anything about me."

"Oh, don't I? You think just because you don't see me sniffing around your Ring every day that I don't keep tabs on competition?"

"I'm not your-"

"You've gone soft, Valeria." He crowded her space, an accusatory finger in her face before he busied himself with the sheets on the bed. "You just don't want to admit it." He pulled out the jacket he'd been looking for and shrugged it on. "Enjoy the bed. I'll be sleeping in the cockpit."

He was gone before she had the chance to say another word, surprised that he'd relegated himself to the small confines of the pilot's chair instead of the luxurious room he'd left her in. She'd had no qualms with sharing the large bed - he knew better than to try anything - but the presence of another person in the room, even someone she hated, would have made it easier for her to sleep.

... maybe he was right. Maybe she was getting soft.

Looking down at the holodevice, she wiped away the drops of water with the corner of a sheet, and tucked it back into her bag.

... maybe she'll try again tomorrow.


	3. Automatism

The thud of the door and the subsequent groan told Reyna that something was wrong. Her own crew knew to knock before entering or they'd likely end up with toilet-scrubbing duties. So it was surprising - and aggravating - that someone was disobeying the one rule she enforced on a daily basis.

But all of that became unimportant on seeing the old clone, stumbling towards her with a hand pressed to his ribs. Thick red liquid oozed from between his fingers and soaked into the fabric of his pants. He'd obviously been bleeding for a long time from the size of the stain and the blanched tinge to his usually bright purple skin.

She sprang into emergency mode, wondering why he came here instead of going to the clinic or one of the healers. But she knew why: he hated being looked at, hated all the prodding and poking of needles and knives, like he was just another experiment on the table. Now, however, was not the time to panic.

"S**t." She dug under her bed for the first aid kit, and dragged out bandages, tape, gauze, sewing needle, thread... what else did she need? She'd patched herself up before plenty of times, yet performing it on someone else made her supplies look scarce by comparison.

After guiding Foxtrot to the ground and propped him up by the end of her bed, she laid them all out beside her, trying to keep all the pieces in order so as not to confuse herself.

"Wanna tell me what the hell happened?" She tried to peel his fingers away from the wound to assess the damage, but he resisted, shaking his head.

"Wasting your time," he exhaled, and swiped the instruments away from them with the back of his hand. That pissed Reyna off, and she gathered the tools back together into her lap. He might think he was too far along for any of her help to make a difference, but she was stubborn to the very end.

"Last I checked, I could do with my time what I wanted." With a furrowed brow, she pressed the gauze to the spaces between his fingers, refusing to let him collapse like some sick old dog. She wasn't going to let him give up, not even if he was choking on his last breath. Especially not in her room, of all places.

That's when he started to chuckle. Confusion came first, then worry. Was he becoming delirious from the blood loss or...?

"Mind letting a girl in on a joke?" she asked, trying to keep him conscious. Tape and scissors were ready in hand to keep the gauze in place, until she saw the glint of sharp teeth. His hand slipped away from his stomach, revealing no ragged wound or bullet hole.

"Pendles owes me thirty bucks," he spoke with renewed vigor, and dragged his "blood-stained" hand across his lips to lick the red corn syrup off.

"You did this for a f*cking prank. You think that's funny?" Reyna stared him down, the beginnings of a headache creeping in behind her eyes. She summoned every ounce of her patience not to punch him in the face. Pranks were frequent on the ship with the kind of crew she kept, but this one had gone too far.

"Seeing the look on your face made it worth it. Lighten up, boss." He smeared some of the red viscous fluid across her cheek, chuckling under his breath.

Then she plunged the scissors right into the side of his neck.

The spray was hot and violent, and even she was surprised at the force of it. Yet, she felt nothing as he continued to grin with those shark-like teeth of his.

* * *

Reyna sat upright with a scream weighted at the back of her throat, her hands reached for her face to wipe away the blood she was sure was there... only to find nothing but the cool sheen of sweat. Her heart pounded against her ribs and made her chest ache, and she found her mouth to be quite dry. She shut her eyes to focus on her breathing, and stood shakily to make her way to the bathroom.

Still wrapped in the shock of her nightmare, she tripped over a pair of pants that weren't hers, and caught herself on the edge of an unfamiliar cot. In it slept Siali, the captain of The Blind Shark, and it took her brain a few seconds to work through the fog and recall where she was.

Heading into Darkspace to find something that may or not be there.

At least Siali was being a gentleman in regards to sleeping in a separate bed instead of clambering into the one he'd offered her. Unfortunately, that generosity hadn't been extended to anything else for the past few days.

Looks here and there, the unavoidable contact as they brushed past each other in the hallways (half of her wasn't sure if it was just the size of him or if he was doing it on purpose). That smarmy way he called her "cherie" whenever he placed a plate of food in front of her. Showering with the damned door open. If it were anyone else, she would have laughed it off as some pathetic attempt to hit on her, but she knew he had no such interests. He was doing it to deliberately piss her off, and to some extent, it was working.

Staring down at his sleeping form, she was half-tempted to smack him in the back of the head and wake him up, have another living body that didn't make her feel alone in the silence of the unfamiliar ship. But she quickly reneged on that thought; he didn't need to be brought into the loop on her concerns and worries, the thoughts that plagued her during her lonelier moments with her Rogues. Because that would only give him more ammo to use against her in the future.

So that left her with staying up by herself and watching the nothing drift past them or going back to sleep, an option which didn't feel at all attractive at the moment. So she made her way to the bathroom, splashed some cold water on her face, and shrugged on her favourite jacket to keep some of the chill away.

Maybe she could make some caffe, she thought. Despite its true nature, it always seemed to calm her nerves.

"Ain't got none on the ship. Got some black tea, though." The sleepy, mumbled words tumbled out of the cot as Siali turned his head, blinking away the sleep that threatened to drag him back into the land of slumber.

Reyna didn't dare to turn around, slightly annoyed at the look he probably had on his face.

"I'm not a big fan of tea." She did up the zipper on her jacket and hugged herself to keep away another chill.

"Then you're outta luck." The cot groaned beneath his weight, and the sound of his feet against the floor told her it was time to go, given that another of his non-generous offerings was to sleep in the nude

"I'll make do." She popped the collar too - had it gotten colder in here? - and padded out the door towards the small mess, trying not to shudder at the sparks dancing up and down her spine. She could _feel_ him watching her leave, and she quickened her pace to get out of there, the door sliding closed behind her. But she could feel his gaze even through that, and she shuddered down the hallway, deciding to forego the mess and head straight to the bridge. Maybe she could make some notes on what kind of tech he was working with so that she'd never have to employ his services ever again.

The flashing lights, buttons, and levers were beyond her comprehension, however. She was used to the outdated controls on the Favour, and had kept up to date on the latest developments of LLC technology, but this was like nothing she'd ever seen before. Asking would solve that problem, but the answers would come with a side of gloating and bragging she could definitely do without. All with that stupid look on his face. No, she'd stay in the dark for now, snap some pictures, and forward the pictures to someone on the Ring well-versed in this stuff when she got back.

Directing her attention out the front window, she couldn't tell if they were actually moving or not. Where stars should have been whizzing by in long streaks of white, there was nothing. The only thing that told her the engines were even running was the light vibrations under her bare feet.

"We're moving, you can count on that."

" _F*ck_ , would you stop doing that!?" She whirled around in the pilot's seat, her hands empty of throwing anything at him for the surprise. At least he'd taken the time to dress himself in a shirt - but not much else - that was lengthy enough to leave the rest to Reyna's imagination.

"Not my fault you're that easy to read, cherie. You wanna know what all this stuff is?" He gestured for her to move over, and took his seat once it was empty. Reyna directed her gaze away from the hem of the shirt creeping up his thighs as he explained one screen after the other.

"This here's the drive for the hyperlight tunneling." He tapped at one screen, though none of the numbers or spinning symbols continued to make any sense. "Funny name for that, don't you think?"

"...?" Reyna blinked in surprise, failing to commit any of this to memory for later.

"Hyperlight tunnel. Since, you know, there's no light out here. Sounds ironic." He touched a few of the symbols and they paused in response before flickering into a different symbol altogether.

"Sure... I guess...?" She wasn't the technical whizz of her crew, to be honest.

"... you know what I said earlier, 'bout not having everything-"

"Not this again," she stood from her seat, no longer interested in the lesson. She didn't want to have to deal with this until they were back at the Ring, and she was primed and ready to take the fight to his doorstep. Not here on some ship in the middle of nowhere, with neither of them wearing any pants. Here, she had to keep her cards even closer to her chest.

"Gimme a chance, huh? So maybe I lied. You _can_ have everything."

"Of course there's a catch."

"... if you come work for me. You get to keep your Ring, none of your little friends would have to get hurt, and everything can stay as it is." He leaned back in his chair and stared out at nothing they were heading towards.

"Except it wouldn't be my Ring. You're gonna put me up to be some kind of figurehead?" As much as she didn't herself as the owner of the Ring, she did keep the people within it protected. She was the one they came to for help, solutions to their problems, or just general supplies. Siali had completely different interests in mind.

"We'd _both_ own it."

"So you're asking me to share?" Reyna asked with a quirked brow. Was he being honest or just pulling her leg?

"I just shared with you, didn't I? Fair's fair." He nodded towards the consoles as he watched her out of the corners of his eyes.

She'd played right into his hands.

"And if I say no?"

Siali exhaled with forced disappointment and shook his head.

"Then let's just say you're gonna have a lot more friends to bury, and I thought you would've gotten tired of that by now." He spun his chair around and leaned close enough to rest his elbows on his knees, his hands on her armrests to trap her on the chair "And before you start suggesting that your faction friends would stand by you, you think they'd waste resources to save some s**tty chunks of rock floating in space? They they'd come to the aid of thieves and mad men just because they _like_ you? Better yet... do you even have proof that they do?"

Oh, how much she wished she could materialize a pair of scissors in her hand right now...

"You wouldn't dare, Valkyrie. You need my pretty head to get you there and back." Siali winked and blew a kiss at her, grinning at her confusion. "Can't say the same for that purple guy, though. Whoever he is. Pulling a stunt that like that? Doesn't seem like much of a friend to me."

Reyna had the sudden urge to throw up. She threw a fist at his face, but he had it within her grip before she had a chance to follow through with it.

"Lovely thing about that drug you're "oh so worried" about. Gives you a bit of clairvoyance when you use it long enough. Sure you still don't want that cup o'black tea, cherie?"

He allowed her the freeing of her wrist, and settled back into his chair as she rubbed the ache out of it.

"Sure. No sugar."

She was thankful that he exited the bridge to go and make it, leaving her alone to her thoughts and the revelation that he could... do whatever it was he was doing. At least she could find some comfort in the fact that she wasn't becoming easier to read.

Soon enough, he was back with a cup of tea in each hand, and she took one with a questioning brow, blew the steam off of it, and set it aside. She wasn't fond of the stuff, but she would humour him just the same.

"So... you're telling me you can see the future."

"Only a few seconds before whatever's gonna happen. The dream thing's new, thought." He resettled himself back into the pilot's seat and took a swig of his still-hot tea. He winced slightly at the scalding pain covering his tongue and throat, but he needed the caffeine to keep him in the here and now if he wanted to continue this conversation with her and see where it went. There was the added benefit of the opportunity to talk to the Valkyrie in such a casual atmosphere, without a gun at each other's throat.

"Cue me not sleeping the rest of this trip, then. I don't need you in my head." The thought of him seeing more of her dreams sent a shudder down her spine.

"Keep your friends close, as they say."

"We ain't friends," she replied with a piercing look that could cut glass.

With a smile, he raised his mug to her.

" _Exactly_."

She had no good comeback, and wrapped her arms around herself. She chose to focus on the passing darkness around them instead, and even with the company she currently had, she'd never felt so alone in the void of space before. The nothingness was starting to feel confining, pushing down on her from all sides. Reyna had to remind herself to breathe before she became lost in it all.

Could people really come back out here to live?

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Siali's mouth beginning to move, prepared to offer some quip or snide remark, and she raised a hand to stop him.

"I'll be fine," she offered. The last thing she wanted was his "insight" right now.

"Whatever you say, cherie." He took another swig from his mug, draining the latter half of his tea. He leaned back in his chair as he stifled a satisfied burp behind a closed fist. "... you're not gonna ask why?"

"Why what?" she asked with exasperation. Humouring him would stop him from pestering her about... whatever it was he wanted to talk about.

"Why I'd wanna see the future." As he felt the fogginess lifting from his senses and the caffeine starting to take root in his veins, he sighed contentedly and closed his eyes. "Why I'd smoke that s**t, knowing what it'll do to me in the end."

"Siali, I couldn't give a rat's ass why. People do stupid s**t all the time for dumbass reasons."

Herself included.

"And that's why you'd be wrong. Where we're going, you'd prefer jumping in the deep end not knowing how to swim? Or would you want someone on your side, knowing if there's sharks or not?"

"Problem is, you ain't on my side." Wanting something to put her hands on other than his face, she made another grab for the cup of tea and warmed her hands.

"Besides the point. People who want to go into Darkspace, they need someone like me. Someone who knows what's on the other side, what to expect when they get there, whether who or what they're looking for's even gonna be there."

"Woohoo. You're a knight in f*cking armour." Reyna spun her finger in the air with no amount of enthusiasm. "How much longer is this ride gonna be?"

"Come on, you gotta give me some credit." His eyes shot open, dared to prop one leg up on the console. Reyna forcibly turned herself away at the brazenness of his exposure. "I found a niche market that people're looking for. You would've done the same."

"If we're done stroking your ego..." She pressed the cup into his hand, not caring if it spilled on him or not, and stood from her seat. "I'm gonna have that hot shower now."

Siali stumbled with the tea, and hissed at the dark liquid soaking into the front of his shirt. He managed to pull the fabric away in time to save his "delicates" being scalded.

"Too bad. We're all out of hot water. _Shame_ , that." He took a sip as he stood, not wanting to spill any liquid on his controls. "Just don't be long. Should be there within the hour, cherie."

Reyna sighed and rubbed her temples as she stormed off to the icy shower that waited for her.


	4. Scepticism

Being in the voids of Darkspace was one thing, but seeing a darkened planet was something else entirely. Or not seeing it, to be exact. Reyna's stomach had done flip-flops with the sudden tug of gravity and the thrusters push against it, to stop from ramming right into the planet's surface. All the while, she'd seen nothing but blackness surrounding them. Siali had assured her it was there, right in front of them and growing closer with each passing second. The ship had groaned and ground beneath her with the opening of panels and extension of landing platforms, until she'd felt the bump of The Blind Shark coming into contact with solid ground. She'd had to grab onto something to stop from falling over, having no reference point as to when they'd land.

From the look on Siali's face, he was loving this.

"Here, you're gonna need these." He tossed her what looked like a pair of goggles as he pushed his own up onto his forehead. He'd said nothing when he'd put on his own pair. Reyna just assumed it was part of his "shtick."

She turned them over in her hand, trying to figure out what they were for. They looked no different from simple swimming goggles, and she wondered if he was pulling her leg.

Siali rolled his eyes, and held them up to her face. There, everything blossomed into view in bright outlines and muted colours: plant life, abandoned vehicles, and assorted rubble. It was all there, and she had to pull them away to make sure she wasn't imagining the whole thing. She turned and gave him a questioning look, as the profitable part of her mind considered how difficult it might be to reverse-engineer them.

"Takes what's out there, and converts it into a spectrum you can see," he explained simply with a shrug, and pulled his own pair back down over his eyes. "Unless you like flying blind, I wouldn't take those off for anything. We hit the ground in fifteen minutes."

Leaving her to her thoughts, Reyna removed her targeting eyepatch and adjusted the straps on the goggles until they fit snugly on her face.

They'd gotten past the easy part. Figuring out the rest was going to be more difficult.

Everything within the ship was much too bright, and she had to squint against the overhead lights as she collected her belongings, rechecking her gear to ensure that everything was in place. This was the last place she wanted to make a mistake, surrounded by the unknown and with a man she could barely trust.

No fresh air rushed in to greet them as the door hissed open. It was as everything was frozen in place, the pressure around them a constant, stagnant force against their chests until they willfully drew breath. The absence of wind made the place deathly quiet and still, and Reyna kicked at an errant piece of rubble on the ground to ensure her hearing still worked. She watched its outline clatter away, bouncing off nearby stones with a dullness that made her feel strangely claustrophobic.

She rested her hand nervously on her hip where her holster resided, and fired up her command gauntlet. The colourless glow out of the corner of her eye gave her a sense of security, as did the warmth that radiated down the metal.

"Might want to put that away, cherie." The weight of his hand on her gauntlet shook her from her thoughts, having forgotten him temporarily, and she drew away from his touch with a scowl. "We dunno what's crawling around here, and I'm pretty damn sure your light'll draw them like a moth to a flame."

Great, so she couldn't use that either. This was going to be a problem if she needed to shoot anything or, Void forbid, summon an overshield to protect them. But she did as he said, trusting in his experience and knowledge with the place.

"So, where should we start?"

Nothing looked familiar to the Valkyrie, but she didn't want to just stand here with their thumbs up their asses. So she pointed in a direction and hoped it was the right one.

Except she wasn't sure what she should be looking for or how they would even come across it if she knew, but coming here was better than nothing. A stitched patch, a dogtag... anything that would reveal their presence here, and then she'd have some solid proof to go off of. Find them, bring them back home to her ship, and then...

... then what? They'd been gone almost two decades. It's unlikely that they would be able to slip back into society as if they'd never left. And what would they think of her current line of "employment"?

Reyna shook her head and tried not to think about future plans that would only muddle her head more. Instead, she focused on the pulse pounding in her head and continued forward.

The further they traveled from the ship, the more desolate their surroundings became. There was no one in sight, not even a single body, and she wasn't sure whether she should feel hopeful about her prospects or cast them aside for the harsh reality of the truth.

"You always this positive?" he whispered, though the silence made it sound a million times louder.

"Get out of my head," she commanded, her gauntlet pointed threateningly at his face. She didn't have the patience to deal with his sarcasm at the moment.

"'m just saying." He hooked his finger through her belt loop and spun her around, the small Valkyrie pressed against him. "Here in the dark, you need to keep your head up. It's easy to lose yourself in all this. Lucky for you, you got me around to keep you level."

The lightest touch to her ear brought a scowl to her face, and she twisted the arm trapped between them free. How could he find the time or the energy to joke like this?

Unfortunately, he caught her half-attempt at a swing, and she watched as the paper-thin lines of his face deepen with a smirk.

"You know, if you took me up on my offer, you wouldn't have to work so hard. I'd provide for you. Treat you like a queen."

"At the price you want? No thanks." She pulled her wrist free with very little struggle from his end.

"That's funny. Like you wouldn't have done the same thing before you had people to care about."

His tone needled into the soft parts of her chest and found root, stealing just enough of her air to make her feel like she was drowning. Saving the galaxy, fighting against a madman... it was just supposed to be a mission. Instead, she'd found people who she'd come to... _like_ having around. More than just numbers to send on missions.

"Answer's still no," she tried to recover, but she had a feeling her honesty was already written all over her face. "You want a bullet in your foot?"

His beard tickled her brow bone as he planted a quick kiss on her forehead before stepping away, too fast for her to dodge or twist her head away from. She wiped away the spot with a gloved hand, eager to get rid of his "stain" before it lingered too long.

That was when he grabbed her wrist, and the expression on his face became all too serious. She noticed the thrum of a racing pulse in his neck, and her worry picked up double-fold.

"Turn around."

"This isn't the time to-"

A hand to her mouth cut off her hissing retort. His head shifted slightly, his attention diverted from her face to something behind her. But she couldn't tell for sure with his gaze hidden behind those goggles.

"Turn... around..." he repeated with more command in his voice this time that sent a ripple of worry down Reyna's spine.

With a breath caught in her throat, she did as he ordered, her pulse pounding in her ears. She blinked at the sight before her, and felt the trapped air escape her in one violent exhale. The sudden change in pressure wrapped an ache around her chest and squeezed her ribs until she thought she was going to pass out. Beyond the sound of blood rushing in her ears, she swore she heard him whisper "breathe" against the skin of her neck.

The sight before her was nothing like she'd ever seen before. Shapes and tendrils snaked out towards her, clawing at the empty air for a taste of her skin and blood. Varelsi, thousands of them, milling about as if they were waiting for the next train to pick them up, and completely oblivious to the trespassers in their domain.

"We can't fight off this many... Where did they even come from..." Reyna whispered under her breath, her feet rooted in place. She'd never known Varelsi to be sneaky, and she was sure they hadn't been there a second ago. But darkened planets were wholly new to her, and her traveling companion would have warned of such things beforehand. He looked taken aback as well, which meant he hadn't expected this either.

"I didn't see any portal blooms. Those would've flared up like Christmas lights on acid." The worry in his voice wasn't helping matters, but who could really keep a level head with the imposing sea of bone-white masks shifting before them?

"Do we go around them, or...?"

An impossible task, since the swarm stretched as far as the eye could see.

"Follow my lead." Siali's arm snaked around her waist, and though she cringed against it, Reyna wasn't about to loudly protest. So she let it be as he guided her away from the swarm before them to retreat back to the ship. His steps were careful, seeking out flat, empty ground to minimize their chances of stumbling and drawing any attention to their location.

All of a sudden, she felt his body stiffen against her back, and Reyna's heart sank, afraid that they'd been found. Any second, she expected the burning rip of Varelsi claws through her back and into her chest. To feel her own burning blood spilling out and soaking into her shirt as everything around her would start to grow dark. What would be her last thoughts in those moments, she wondered...

Then there was the soft escape of air and the gentle shaking of his body against hers.

He was laughing.

"Found the ship," he confessed before her temper ran away with her. He sounded as relieved as he felt.

"Don't tell me we're just going to leave..."

They'd already been here for hours, and she wasn't about to give everything up after spending days getting here. Her recklessness screamed at her to barrel through them and take down as many as they could to get to what they were looking for. Her fear told her that that was a fool's folly, and they'd be torn apart faster than a cupcake in Orendi's hands. Still, going back would undo everything they'd accomplished so far.

"We're not. Just need to think things through and come up with a plan." He fiddled with the panel until the door hissed open once more, his tone laced with disappointment. At least in that, they were on the same page.

She allowed him to guide her back into the open doorway as she maintained her gaze on the inky, undulating forms of the star eaters until the closing door blocked them from view.

But it was all a ruse to get her to cooperate, as she soon felt the steady hum of the engines coming to life beneath her feet. Reyna sprinted through the narrow halls of the ship to the bridge and all but tackled Siali out of his chair.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" She made a grab for the controls and tried to wrestle his hands off of them.

"You paid me get you here, not throw my life away in some fight!" He sounded more spooked than he'd originally let on. Reyna couldn't really fault him for that.

"I got credits-!" she snapped as she ripped off the goggles and threw them at his face. Siali winced and temporarily forgot his grip on the controls to take care of the pain. But it was too late; the Valkyrie had already shut everything off again.

"I paid too much for this ship, and _you_ paid too much to get to where you are. You really think throwing your life away out there's gonna make a difference?" Thick brows that peeked over the goggles knitted together in genuine concern.

" _They_ did." Reyna gestured back at the door they'd come in through. "They're the only reason I got to where I am." She blinked frantically at the sudden influx of colours bombarding her vision, having gotten so accustomed to the darkness and inky white lines of the goggles.

"No, you did that on your own. Not dead pa-"

It was her turn to silence him as she punched him square in the jaw.

"You don't know that. You don't know anything about me." Reyna primed her fist for another swing, and once more, he had a grip on it before she could cock it back all the way.

That clairvoyance thing was starting to get really fucking annoying. But then...?

"I gave you a freebie cuz you needed it. Better to get it out than keep it buried, they say." Siali dragged off his goggles and threw them at the ground, squinting at the erratic change of view. His other hand searched his lip and was satisfied to find no blood. It still hurt like hell though, and the first signs of swelling started to reveal themselves.

Reyna slid to the ground with a huff as she tended to her aching knuckles.

"So what now?" She couldn't help but sound deflated. They'd found nothing so far and the sudden appearance of the Varelsi was definitely putting a damper on things.

"Waiting's the only suggestion I got. What with you wrecking my controls." Siali retrieved his goggles and sat on the floor across from her, his knees drawn to his chest to give her her space. Teasing the Rogue Commander didn't seem so fun anymore.


	5. Hellstromism

But their waiting didn't last for very long as they both slipped, unwillingly, into unconsciousness. A proposed watch should have been in order, not knowing when the swarm of skull faces would bump into the ship during their wandering and decide to rip the whole thing apart. The suddenness of their slumber, however, should have been warning alone that the heaviness of their eyelids and dulling of their minds wasn't at all natural.

* * *

 _Shachar_...

The dark-skinned woman stood there in all her majesty, wrapped in glimmering fabrics and jewelry that sparkled in what moonlight shone in from behind her. Its waning form crowned her head, its pale glow framing her immaculately-done dark hair, adorned in gems of clear and red. She was always a sight to see, always stole his breath away every time she entered the room. But she was not for him, he told himself. _She was too pure to be with the likes of him_.

"You're doing it again." Her voice was clear and lilted with song, not unlike the birds she was so fond of caring for. He would stand for hours on that balcony, watching the creatures covering her outstretched arms and becoming enraptured in her presence.

But she did that to just about _everyone_.

"What? What _am_ I doing?" he teased, the corners of his eyes wrinkling with a fond smile. He could never help hiding it, not when those gold eyes of hers fell upon him. He smiled out of self-defence, to appear smaller than he really was to avoid her wrath. Despite knowing that she saw right through it. They could make the most headstrong of men doubt himself, bore right through you until you felt empty. Until you felt like a lie and nothing could fill you again.

With him, however, her eyes of pure gold sought the stains within him and dragged them to the surface, covering his skin and his thoughts with his past misdeeds. Actions he sought to get away from. It was why he was here, after all, seeking an escape for what he'd done. No young boy of seventeen should have that much blood on his hands.

Much to the chagrin of the others in her court, however, she'd chosen him as her personal bodyguard. Whether that was out of pure pity or the fulfillment of some unknown prophecy, he didn't much care; they could scowl all they like until their expressions soured milk. She had taken him in, and there was nothing he could do to repay her except to protect her with his life.

His life in exchange for hers, his goddess. The proposed queen of death herself. His ties to here were a mixed blessing.

"You're staring. And thinking on thoughts you should not be having."

His eyes fell to the floor, wondering what in his expression had given him away. But she was above him in all ways; it wasn't a stretch to consider that she could read his mind, though he'd never felt any kind of mental invasion.

"One cannot help a man's mind and where it wanders," he suggested with a teasing tone. He knew better - had been trained for it by the men of court themselves - but there was no reason to lie to her either.

"A weak man, maybe. Muscle is not the only way to show strength. Strength of will..."

His heart jumped as he heard her bare feet against the tiled-covered floor, covered in a mosaic of blues and greens that painted a picture one could only see from high above. He hadn't as yet managed to piece it together from this height, but he was determined to. Perhaps some other time, when he wasn't observing his rituals.

 _Head low. Hold your breath._

The porcelain felt cool against his forehead as he prostrated himself before her, her footsteps growing ever closer. Gold peeked into the edge of his vision, her toes wrapped in the shiny ink to signify her purity. But a flicker of static - dark and inky purple - forced his breath and tilted his head out of concern. Something was out of place, and he wasn't about to drop his guard just because of her yearned-for proximity.

" _You dare_ -"

He remembered himself and resumed his position, the wrathful nature of her tone shaking him to his very core. Beautiful as she was, she could also be deadly frightening when she was ready.

He felt the heat of her anger begin to wane as she kneeled before him and cupped his face in her hands. A test, it must be, he told himself, and kept his gaze fixed on the floor. To look upon her meant-

"You're unworthy of her touch, he presence. Why do you think she could ever love a man like you?"

The words stilled his heart and stole his breath, rendered his lips and tongue dry, rapped against his ribs so hard that his chest began to ache. The pounding in his ears stole the rest of his thoughts. Fingers tensed and left crescents in the skin of his palms.

"You're going to tell because of the life you took. You're going to hell for taking her from this world."

Siali bit at his tongue and felt the salty warmth of blood between his teeth. _She knew_ , and was going to make him pay for it.

The death of his mother, delivered by his own hand. Violent and unwavering, he'd sank the knife into her neck, his vision filled with red as the light died in hers, his rage boiling over until there was nothing left but an uncontrollable furnace. Raging, he'd stormed out, killed another for his ship and stolen it, driven it in any direction that would take him until he'd crashed here days later. "She deserved it" were the only words he clung to as he faded into unconsciousness, half-buried in a sand dune.

There was a small sound, the parting of lips into a vicious smile as the gold ink in the corners of his vision swirled and vanished into the void that stole its colour. The hands on his face became colder, thinner, until they were nothing but bones against his skin.

"Not her."

Still, he wouldn't lift his gaze to her, knowing the skeletal visage he would see there. One look, and he would shrivel into ash at her feet.

 _His beautiful goddess of death_...

Finger bones slowly curled against skin, and the edges sharpened into claws that dug through the thin layers of his cheeks. Warm blood started to flow, and the pain wrapped around the circumference of his head as she tore into his face.

Her melodious laugh melted into a growling cackle, her voice becoming more raspy with each passing second. It sent a chill down his spine and, against his better judgment, finally lifted his face. Gold pinpoints of light stared back, but this was not the face of his goddess. This was-

"Hey!"

The hard punch to his shoulder dragged him from his dream into the waking world, though it was still just as much of a nightmare as the one he'd left behind. The void was still outside, visible through the small porthole of the ship, and the Varelsi were just beyond. Waiting for them to come out.

"You were talking in your sleep."

As he tried to regain the air he'd lost, the voice dragged his gaze towards the small woman sitting across from him. Her honey-brown eyes were fixed on his face, her expression a mix of something between a scowl and concern. _Honey-brown. Almost gold._

"... you kept saying 'no'."

Siali dug his knuckles against his eyes to chase away the imagery, and welcomed the points of colourful stars behind his eyes. He could explain, bring her into the fold of what made him so... unbearable was probably the word she'd use. But he didn't need more of her looks or her concern, nor did he want to be in her presence any longer. He honestly felt like he was going to throw up just looking at her, not with those _damn eyes of hers_.

Yet, there was a needling warmth in his chest for just the opposite. The cycle of birth and death, it wasn't impossible that Shachar's soul or essence had found another vessel to occupy, to continue her work in some other way. The Valkyrie of all people, however... Was that why she continued to be so stubborn, why she refused his help on so many occasions? Was her past life still holding a grudge against him?

"... it's nothing," he deflected. "What time is it?"

"It's been about an hour. At least, that's what my clock says. But who knows if time works the same on darkened planets." Reyna stretched her arms over her head and yawned.

Siali searched her face, looking for... something. Some sign that he hadn't been the only one to experience a terrifying nightmare. Yet, she looked well-rested, and he was to prideful to raise his concerns about the images he'd seen.

"You alright staying taking watch? I really need to pee." She gave another glance out the window and cursed inwardly at the roadblock of Varelsi in their path.

"Yeah. Fine." He waved her away - she knew where the bathroom was - and took up the task of keeping watch. That left him alone with his thoughts and the lingering sensations of those cold fingers against his skin. The phantom tingle of the claws embedded in his skin remained, but there were no bloody trenches when he touched his face. It was just a nightmare. Nothing more.

Reyna rubbed at the ache in her neck as she made the way to the bathroom, wondering how either of them could have fallen asleep at a time like this. She blamed the stress of the situation, the imposing darkness outside the ship, and the lack of anything else better to do other than wait and come up with a plan.

After taking care of her business and washing up, she noticed a ripple in the slightly broken mirror. Her first impression was a shudder from the ship's engines, and she was about to sprint back to the bridge under the belief Siali was preparing to leave again. But the longer she looked at it, the more unnatural it became. Her features began to twist like the reflection in a funhouse mirror, until her face became less human and more... skeletal.

She turned on the water and splashed some on her face, believing she just needed more sleep or a plan to focus her mind on.

But when she looked again, the scene before her ripped into her chest. The wall behind her dripped with viscuous black fluids, and faces seemed to emerge from them. Faces of people she knew, both dead and alive. Their smiles were too wide, too white, and their unblinking eyes fixed with hers.

Her parents. Her Rogues. Other faction members.

And one by one, they started to rot before her very eyes, the skin putrefying and withering until there was nothing left but the dry, leathery remains pulled tight across their skulls. Still smiling. Still staring.

Reyna's fist finally ruined the nightmarish reflection as the glass splintered beneath it. She couldn't be sure whether it was the destruction of the mirror itself or the pain in her knuckles that chased the imagery away, but neither did much to soothe terror's grip on her heart.

She wanted to attribute such a hallucination to stress, but she'd been under pressure much greater than this and have never experienced such vivid images. The longer she thought about it, the more she realized there was only one conclusion.

Siali was right. They couldn't stay here and whatever she'd come out here for, she wasn't going to find.

Throwing open the door, she almost collided into him in her panic, and she managed to catch herself on the door before she fell. He still looked as tired and distant as when she'd woken him up, and she was sure she was starting to look the same.

"We can't stay here..." she uttered, failing to hide the shakiness in her voice.

To hear the Valkyrie, of all people, sounding fearful was enough to give him pause. She'd paid him a good price to get here, wanted to face the impossible, had punched him in the face for wanting to leave in the first place, and now she wanted to turn tail before they'd even started.

"I can fly to another spot, but..."

The spooked look on her face intensified then shrank beneath her anger.

"No, this entire planet. We have to go." Reyna balled her fist in the front of his shirt and dragged him with her back to the bridge, digging her boots in against the metal. Everything around her seemed to slow to a painful drag no matter how quickly she pushed herself, and the weight of her pilot behind her wasn't making anything better.

Varelsi were nothing new, she'd murdered hundreds of thousands of them before today. Something had to be responsible for her "encounter" in the bathroom, and she was determined to find out what it was. She snatched the pairs of goggles and pressed them into his hand, the other pair going to her eyes.

"Look for something that's not supposed to be there."

Siali looked down at her with a snarled lip and raised brow. As if she couldn't be more vague.

"How'll I know what I'm looking for?" he asked sarcastically as he scanned the horizon. She must have seen _something_ during her time in the bathroom to warrant such a change in her behaviour.

"It's gotta be something big. Something big enough to f**k with our minds. Make us see... things."

Ah, so she _had_ seen something. But as much as he wanted to gloat about his original suggestion to leave, it would distract from the task at hand.

Reyna, on the other hand, wasn't sure he believed her. Hearing herself, it sounded like a pathetic excuse to get out of here.

"... I just saw more than a dozen people in the bathroom mirror, coming out of the walls. Turning into corpses. My own face..." She shook the memory from her head as she continued to focus on the horizon.

"... that why you got glass in your hand?"

She looked away long enough to see his fingers wiping away the blood from her knuckles, and started to pluck at the small shards of embedded mirror from her wounds. His hands were weathered, but he took care to be gentle despite their attentions being somewhere else.

"... do you believe me?" She realized he hadn't asked about her visions or even scoffed at them, and that led her to assume he'd seen something too.

Siali could have nodded, shared his own visions with her now that he knew he wasn't losing his mind, and find equal footing to seek out this mysterious source of their mindfucks. But that would give her the satisfaction she was looking for. And he'd finally gotten her to share something. The ball was now in his court.  
"I don't have a choice. You pay enough, I'll tell you the damn sky's green, if that's what you want to hear." He pulled out a small medkit from an unseen panel and sprayed some antiseptic on her wounds, now that they were free of glass.

Reyna ripped her hand free from his grip, her soft expression of expected acceptance furrowing with a downturned mouth and knitting brows. She thought for sure his silence would have verified her suspicion, that he would have shared something of what he'd seen. But his cocky response swept away any chances of wanting to build any common ground with him, especially in their current predicament.

So she turned away from him with a scoff and continued scouring the horizon for any sign of what could be causing their hallucinations.

 _Where are you, you f**ker..._

It was during her fifth sweep to her right that she finally saw something large in the distance, about the size of a Gunhulk. If it were that, she would have been able to breathe easier and start constructing a plan on how to take it out. However, the creature's movements and appearance were much different. Its outline was devoid of the spiky protrusions along its back and shoulders, and there were many more arms and legs than she could count. Its gait was smooth, a mix between a serpent and a caterpillar, as its limbs undulating beneath its massive form.

Whips and tendrils curled and unfurled themselves in large blossom-y shapes against the creature's neck, seeking out... whatever it was looking for. It was mesmerizing to watch, and even Reyna forgot herself for a second as she watched the creature at work.

"There..." The word fell from her lips so quietly she wasn't even sure she'd uttered. She could feel Siali crowding close against her shoulder, seeking out for himself what she'd found. A sudden inhale told her he'd found it.

"What the hell..." Siali couldn't fathom what he was witnessing, and it took him a second of staring at the constantly-shifting outline to make out all of its parts.

Eventually, the inky appendages along its back unfurled in an eldritch bloom, revealing a throbbing mass of tissue, vaguely shaped like a brain. It swelled and grew until it looked like it was ready to burst. The brain-like mass then suddenly collapsed on itself, and a wave of energy radiated in every direction with the sudden change of pressure. The surrounding skulks twitched as it passed over them, but continued with their milling about, completely unaffected. The two humans, on the other hand...

* * *

Reyna screamed at the hand that clutched her ankle and dragged her to the ground, her knees collapsing beneath her as she started back at the grin with too much teeth in it. Black-lined lips thinned under the savage magenta glow of the varimorph's eye and fire-filled palms.

"MURDERER. THIEVER. YOU STOLE ME." The claws around her ankle started to dig through her jeans and past the leather of her boot into her skin. Reyna didn't question why she was here, too enraptured in the hot anger pouring out of the lithe, spidery form, as well as her vicious accusations.  
"I saved you," she spat back, though her drive to defend herself was weak. Perhaps she should have brought the varimorph back to her planet instead of keeping her aboard. She hadn't complained so far, but that didn't mean she was happy on the Favour either.

Before her eyes, the face shifted into something else, the nose and mouth elongating into a long, wide snout, still with too many teeth to feet safe. Clawed limbs twisted into a coil of muscle and scales, the grip tightening around her ankle until she could barely feel the rest of her leg anymore. The acrid scent of almonds filled the air, and the assassin hissed in delight at the trapping of his meal.

"You know I'm gonna kill you some day, love. Just a matter of when." His tongue flicked at the air, and his golden tooth gleamed with the gaping of his maw. His fangs were coated with thick venom that filled the air even more with its stench.

Reyna reached for a gun she was sure was there, but found an empty holster. The Roa was the last to join the Rogues, but despite proving himself in the fight against Rendain, she still held him at arm's length, never sure when he would soon get a contract with her name on it.

"You really think you can shoot me, boss?" The gruff voice of the angry clone made her whither slightly beneath his grip. "I know your truth. And you're too much of a coward to admit it to yourself."

A punch to the side of his face grazed her knuckles against metal and reopened her wounds, pinpricks of warm blood springing to the surface again.

Blood... The mirror...

"You're not real," she blurted out, the brimming moisture in her eyes retreating with her anger. This thing, whatever it was, was playing with her, dragging out her fears to reduce her to a whimpering, emotional wreck.

Whiskey's golden eye narrowed with disbelief, his free hand finding root around her neck.

"Feels real enough, don't it?" His tooth grin glimmered up at her as she lifted her from the ground and off her feet, the thick ropy muscles of his arm tensing even further. Dangerous claws threatened to break skin, but she knew the old clone better than that. He would jump into the star if she asked him to, not break her neck out of some whim.

Her hand retreated to her holster once more and found the gun that had been there all along. Cocking back the hammer, she pressed the barrel to his cheek, the dark purple skin dimpling underneath the metal.

"You tell me."

* * *

"You'll never have me." Shachar glared down at him with complete disappointment, her hand bathed in orange-red flame to burn him to a crisp. He would break his rule for a second time and gaze up at her with tears in his eyes.

"I thought you knew. That you'd come to me eventually. That it was all just a matter of when. I thought..." He choked on his words at the sight of her face. His death goddess, angry and ready to smite him into ash, eyes of pure gold and hatred. How could she, when he'd done nothing but dedicate himself to her?

"Time?" she scoffed, a toothy half-smirk revealing the same fire burning within her throat. "I could never trust someone like you. You work for the highest bidder and no one else." The flames grew brighter and hotter as she clenched her fist around them, her skin blackening with ash.

She wasn't wrong; the job had paid well, given him a place to sleep and eat for free for as long as he did what he was told. But greed faded to admiration, and love didn't fall far behind. Love for a woman who had more power than she knew what to do with.

"Then do it." Siali grabbed her fire-wrapped fist and pressed it to his cheek, a look of defiance in his eyes. "At least my death will be by your hand." He would prefer to die proud than sniveling like some child, proud for following his heart instead of denying the truth any longer. At least it would be a marvelous death - killed by the goddess herself - instead of cowering in fear or fighting for something he didn't believe in. He could happily choose this death here and now, and have no regrets in the afterlife.

"Stupid boy," she hissed, gold pinpoints of life staring down at him from her shadowy visage. Once-smooth black hair now flew wildly around her, like a large crown made of tendrils seeking some kind of satisfaction.

He blinked once. Twice. Those shapes seemed familiar somehow, but he couldn't put a finger on it. What he _did_ notice was the lack of heat in her palm. In fact, it felt quite cold and these was no pain of his skin burning away. Confusion wrapped him as he stood to his full height, his eyes fixed on hers, and felt absolutely nothing. No fear. No pain. No judgment in her look.

He grabbed her other hand and pressed that to his face too, silently daring her to do her worse. But her expression didn't falter, that same threatening grin that once made him feel so small. But the closer he got, the smaller she seemed to be. A small waif of a thing.

That's when he grabbed her by the neck and lifted her from her feet, her gold-wrapped toes almost up to his waist at his full reach.  
"You toyed with me. Played with my feelings. I was just another puzzle for you to mess with," he spoked through gritted teeth, hot tears edging out of the corners of his eyes.

* * *

The pair stared at each other as the hallucination faded: Siali held her up by the neck, while Reyna had her gun pressed to his cheek. He quickly dropped her to her feet, still shaken by the heartfelt admission he'd just made. Reyna rubbed at her throat, coughing against the lingering ache, and shoved her gun back into its holster. When their eyes met again, they looked shaken to their cores, though neither would say a word.

 _Brought to the very edge of this madness by the one they trusted the most..._

"Holy s**t," they muttered in unison before their gazes broke and returned in the direction of the hulking monstrosity outside.

"How the hell are we going to fight something like that?" Reyna rubbed away the lingering prickles of sweat on the back of her neck, her breathing shallow.

"... maybe we don't." Siali hated to say it, knowing that she'd likely hit him, but he didn't really want to die here.

"Like hell we don't." Reyna snatched up the goggles and headed to the door, her pistol drawn and the hammer cocked back. "I didn't come all the way here for nothing."

"Valeria, there's nothing out there for you!" Siali grabbed her wrist and dragged her towards the nearest wall, physically pinning her in place. But he didn't get a chance to talk any sense into her as he felt the sharp point of her elbow digging into his ribs. Another knee finding the spot between his thighs sent him to his knees, and she shoved him over to get him out of the way.

Breathless, he wasn't about to let her throw her life away, and used every ounce of his energy to talk through the pain.

"Think about it! If who you're looking for was here, you think they'd still be alive?! The skulks would have gotten them or they would have gone mad already."

"I don't care. It's been two decades, sitting on my f**king hands while I waited for this moment. You're not going to take that from me now." She pulled the goggles into place and readied the code for the hatch to open.

"So you can throw yours away too?!"

"What do you care?! With me out of the way, you'll have the Ring to yourself! I'm giving you exactly what you wanted!" The arms of her command gauntlet extended and retracted again, a test to make sure it was still working.

It wasn't a lie; with her throwing herself into this suicidal mission, his chances would increase one hundred percent, and he wouldn't have had to lift a finger to get it. And that, in and of itself, was the problem. He wanted the challenge of fighting her for control, the planning and espionage and bribing, to see just how far both of them could go before the other broke. Letting her leave the ship meant he'd never see her full potential, or his own.

Reyna started her way down the short flight of stairs when everything suddenly grew black. The jolt to the back of her head made her limbs heavy, and as much as she tried to catch herself, she couldn't get her arms and legs to work.

"S-..."

She didn't get to finish her thought, that microsecond of understanding, before she slumped forward into Siali's waiting arm. He managed to catch her pistol before she lost her grip on it, and hauled the short, stocky woman back into his shuttle before the Varelsi decided they'd had enough of waiting.

"Sorry, Valkyrie. This isn't what you paid me for." He lifted her slumped form onto his shoulder and carried her to the back of the shuttle; the last thing he needed was her waking up during takeoff and trying to crash the whole thing in her rage.

Situated back on the bridge, he fired up the engines and took a quick glance at the hulking monstrosity outside. The tendrils on its back had furled around the central mass again, but there was no swelling. That meant that they had time to clear the planet before it could hit them again. Glad to be away from that hideous monstrosity and its tricks, the tiny ship rumbled to life beneath him. It was only through the pull of gravity that he could tell they were actually moving, until the weightlessness of space told him he were free of the planet.

 _"Well, well, you've pissed her off **and** managed to keep her alive. That's a first."_ The slithery saccharine voice made his ear tickle, and he shook the need to turn around.

"I kept you happy for a while, didn't I?" He spoke to no one as he pulled the shuttle into the docking bay.

 _"You were entertaining, to say the least."_

"I would've burned for you. But that wouldn't have ever been enough, not for you." He scowled and shut his eyes. It had taken this long for him to accept the truth, that there'd never been a chance with her, outsider or not. The only person she'd ever truly cared about was herself.

 _"The boy finally gains some wisdom."_

"F**k off, Shachar. I've outlived you."

 _"For now. But when the time comes, I'll be there. Waiting. With open arms. You'll be in my domain, after all."_

Her snickering faded from his mind as he turned off the engines and glanced back towards his unconscious companion. She was going to be pissed when she woke up, and he could at least lessen the blow of her fists by greeting her with a cup of hot caffe from his hidden stash.


	6. Levitation

Reyna threw everything she could get her hands on, and there was a lot around the ship that wasn't tied or bolted down. From containers of tea to the mug of hot caffe he'd left by her bedside, she was determined to crack his skull open with _something_ for the stunt he'd pulled. She demanded to be satisfied because she knew beneath all the anger, there was a deep-rooted sadness that clenched her chest and pricked the corners of her eyes with tears, tears she didn't want falling.

Because they spelled failure. And if she could just hit him _once_ , it would make up for that dreaded feeling.

Siali was on the defensive, catching most things she threw and dodging others that were too hard to manage. Those were the ones that splintered and broke against the wall behind him. No love lost; he hadn't paid a single penny for the majority of the stuff on his ship anyway.  
"I'm not turning this ship around, Valkyrie." Another canister of tea landed dully in his palm, and he quickly tucked it away on a high shelf as he prepared to dodge another projectile. "And I'm pretty sure you don't know how to work those controls."

He was trying to keep the mood light, but he could tell from the ever-deepening line of her brow that his humour was only making things worse. She was going to crack eventually, and he had no defensive measures to counter the impending fallout.

Reyna could feel it too, and once she ran out of ammunition, she resorted to her last trump card. The hammer of her pistol clicked back with the dragging of her thumb, her chest heaving from exertion.  
"Turn this f**king ship around. I'm not going to ask again."

Siali stared down the barrel at the fate that awaited him, and dropped the latest projectile - his favourite mug. He winced at its splintering on the ground and grumbled beneath his sigh. She was being ridiculous.

"I can't do that."

"Why the f**k not!?" She neared and pressed the metal against his chin, nudging it up as far as his neck would crane. Seeing him like this should have made her heart dance and revel in his suffering. Instead, the first inkling of moisture started to work its way down her cheek, her frustrations finally getting the better of her. She nudged it away quickly with the back of her hand, but that small distraction was enough for Siali to tackle her to the ground and knock the gun out of her grasp. She was putting up a decent fight for someone her size, but he managed to wrestle her into a bear hug, trapping her between himself and the floor.

"I just can't. Not after everything."

"Why the f**k do you care?! Let me go, you s**t!" Reyna struggled beneath the weight of him, her arms and legs bound with his as they lay crumpled together on the ground. Part of this felt too familiar, and she violently cast it out, as far away from her thoughts as possible.

"Because the people of the Ring need you," Siali whispered into her ear, his forehead braced against her temple. His grip on her grew ever tighter, determined to keep her here. With him. Within this dimension where people counted on her. He could finally see why the Ring was so successful with her around, and it required her to keep breathing. She was selfless, strong, stubborn, and she knew how to fight to the bitter end, no matter the obstacle before her. But this, going back to a hopeless planet, was stupid. There was nothing she could gain from going back.

His words froze her in place, grabbed her anger and cooled it so fast she almost splintered in half at the sudden change in temperature. This entire trip, he'd been trying to wiggle his way into her good graces and wrest her control of the asteroid belt out of her very hands. And now, he was letting all of that go.

Something back on the planet must have fucked him up pretty bad for him to admit such a thing. For him to give up on his bitterness, the very thing that drove him to continue waging his silent war against her.

"F**k you..." she spat.

"Yeah, f**k me. F**k me and my bulls**t. But I'd rather you deal with it than throwing yourself away, where there ain't nothin' waiting for you."

"You don't know that. You can't know that!" She struggled again, his words inspiring another shot of anger in her veins. But his grip on her was already set.

"Valeria... _Reyna_. No one could've survived down there that long."

She hated how right he was. She hated how stupid she was being about the whole thing, holding onto a hope she knew no longer had any chance of coming to fruition. She hated how long she'd waited, all the opportunities she'd passed up, always promising herself "just one more day" and now it was too late. She'd squandered all the time she'd had and she'd never get the chance ever again.

Her struggle eked out of her as she gave into her sorrow and curled in on herself. Siali's grip on her eased too, and she buried her face in her hands. There was no sound, but the light trembling of her shoulders told him there were no more words to be said, that there were no words that _could_ be said. So he continued to hold her, until she told him differently.

* * *

The days passed in silence as they contemplated everything they'd been through, together and separately in their own personal nightmares. It was difficult to meet each other's gaze, unsure as to what the other had seen or heard as a result of the hallucinations. Deeply felt secrets they would prefer no one knowing, unspoken half-truths that would change the very nature of their working relationship. To ask would incite curiousity, and both would prefer to avoid being prodded with such questions.

Reyna slept more, outside of his quarters, and he worried at first that she would try to steer the ship back towards the darkened planet. But his worries subsided on the second day when his calculations told him they were still on course and that there'd been no doubling back. Just one more day, and they would be back within the arms of the Ring, safer than they were out here.

One more day and they would go their separate ways, possibly never seeing each other again. And that thought left an unpleasant taste in Siali's mouth. But what could he really say to change the air between them? He'd set up too many roadblocks between them, his previous goal to see her torn down from her throne the only thing that had been on his mind. Everything he'd done had been to jeopardize what she'd set out to do, where he should have been helping her instead. Who knew the strides they could have achieved if they'd put their heads together...

 _"You're not going to make a difference, you know_."

He gritted his teeth against the sudden intrusion of his mind. Two days, and he'd come to believe that Shachar had finally left him alone. But he knew better than to entertain her, and sought out the sleeping Valkyrie on the couch. With another presented gift of caffe, of course.

A light touch to her shoulder was all it took to rouse her, and there was the teasing hint of a smile on her face before she realized who was next to her. Not even the mug of liquid caffeine could lighten her mood whenever he was near, it seemed.

"What do you want?" She took the mug and set it aside as she retreated to the farthest corner of the couch away from him.

"Nothing, I just-"

"Wanted to check up on me? Cut the bulls**t. You're worried about me." Reyna stared off at nothing. Anything was better than looking him in the eye.

"And... that's a bad thing." Siali took a seat anyway, but maintained his distance.

"I'm supposed to trust you all of a sudden just because we've been through some s**t together? What happened back on that planet isn't going to change anything."

The tickle of Shachar's laughter ran down his spine in tiny rivulets. He shook the feeling away.

"... maybe not. Trust's got nothing to do with wondering if you're happy. With all this, what you've got." The sight of her broken down on the floor was still fresh in his memory. She probably wasn't proud of it either.

"That's none of your business," she replied half-heartedly, and finally chanced a sip at her caffe.

"And if I want to make it my business?"

His question captured her attention, and he felt the sting of those gold-brown eyes settling on his. Angry as they were, it was difficult not to be enraptured by them, staring into the eyes of someone who'd died and been reborn into another he couldn't have. It stung him to his core, and part of him feared what he would do if he didn't get the Commander of the Rogues off his ship sooner than later.

"At what cost?" she finally asked, after a period of silence that had lingered much too long. "Your prices are usually too high." Reyna didn't know why she was even entertaining the idea, but she was much too exhausted to go somewhere else and he would follow her anyway.

"Heh, wouldn't be the first time I made an exception." He finally broke their gaze and leaned back into the couch, his arms resting behind his head. There was only so much of her eyes he could take.

Despite his casual air, Reyna could sense the change in his mood, how forced his smile looked in comparison to the natural, cheerful tug at the corners of his mouth. He'd lost something back on that planet, something that left him shattered. But was that enough of an excuse to treat him differently She'd seen his true colours over the passing years, and no one changed their spots that quickly.

"We can put you on a trial basis, see how well things work before I consider you full time," she exhaled, tucking aside her anger for now. She knew that her need for petty revenge and snubbing her nose at him wouldn't make her situation any better. She had to put her Rogues first.

She took a long swig of caffe to chase away the bad taste in the back of her throat.

The knot that had been tied in Siali's stomach during those silent seconds unknotted itself in relief. He was afraid - and expected - that she would outright reject his offer, with an added insult to further sting his wounds. That he'd dug himself a trench so deep that, even with his best intentions put forward, he'd never be able to get out of.

It was a big "fuck off" to Shachar's memory too, and he felt the invisible shackles falling from his limbs, leaving him feeling lighter. His distaste for the Valkyrie's claiming of the Ring would always remain, however, though its size had shrunk to light annoyance.

"Do you believe in reincarnation, Valeria?"

The question and sudden change of topic caught her off-guard, but she shook her head in response.

"I used to be that way, until someone showed me differently. This now, you here... it only confirms everything."

Reyna gave him a quizzical look and remained silent in case there was more he had to say.

"In a past life, I mean before I did this, I missed so many opportunities to do the right thing. Because I was doing what everyone else expected of me. Fulfilling expectations that had nothing to do with my happiness."

"Is that what made you such a bitter asshole?"

"Like you're any different? It took you years before you finally took the chance to come out here, sitting on that wreck of a ship and pretending not to be miserable. ... we're not that different."

"What're you saying, exactly?"

What _was_ he trying to say? He'd drifted from the point he'd been trying to make.

"... I don't want to make the same mistake again. This is the second chance I should've been looking for a long time ago."

"At?" Redemption was not something Reyna ever believed the pilot-for-hire sought. Only ever interested in himself and how much he could stuff into his pockets on any given day.

"Not missing out on what everything has to offer."

Siali leaned back and closed his eyes. It felt like pretense to confess such a thing, but the more he spoke, the more true and real it felt. All he'd needed was to let go of Shachar instead of allowing her to maintain her poisonous control over him. Her bitter-laden touch had infected him so deep, it had turned him into someone he didn't want to be.

"I'd suggest you don't miss out either, cherie. Refill on the caffe?" He nodded towards her half-empty mug with a grin - empty of any hidden meaning - and stood to retrieve the pot.

"Please."

Perhaps they weren't so different after all, the Valkyrie realized. They'd both been burned by something in their past, outside of their control. Except she'd buried herself in her work to ensure no one would go through that ever again, while Siali had sought more selfish means to smother the regret and anger. But both had arrived at the same end: they'd neglected their own well-being in the process, finding satisfaction in things and people rather than their very presence.

And it was that similarity that gave her moment to pause. Siali would be a better replacement than anyone else out there, at least temporarily until Shayne was old enough or he passed on as well. He could even help her to train the kid, show them things that Reyna couldn't. And with Siali helping her with the reins, she could start to appreciate what the galaxy _could_ offer. She could finally start to live for herself instead of other people.

Another day and a half, and the familiar jagged rocks of the Detritus Ring came into view. Reyna could breathe a sigh of relief at being near Solus again and away from the darkened voids of space. Here, there was life. A life she made for herself with her own two hands, and she cursed herself in hindsight at wanting to throw her life away. The paperwork and the organizing and caffeine-fueled days and nights were always going to be there, but she had a better appreciation for them. Now that she knew she didn't have to wage a war against everyone.

"We'll stay in touch. I'll be out of dock for a few days, given our little trip didn't nab me anything good. Gotta make up the difference somehow." Siali filled the doorway, his hands gripping the top, as he watched her make her way down the gangplank.

Reyna was half-tempted to cough up an extra fifty percent to his fee to make it up to him, but she had the feeling he would reject it.

"Hopefully, your next client pays you enough to get a new name for your ship."

Siali barked out a laugh and waved her away before disappearing inside. There, he started putting out feelers, making posts on the Roguenet to see if anyone had any need for transportation services. It was the same copy-paste shpiel he'd been using for a while, and he made a mental note to write up a new one, when he wasn't so freaking tired.

In sitting on his bed, he caught a whiff of the clean shampoo the Valkyrie used in her hair; the smell had stuck itself to his pillow, and he jokingly cursed at her presence still hounding him long after she was gone. Reflexively, he pulled out the small tin from the drawer of the side table and plucked out one of the hand-rolled cigarettes. The spicy smell of it soothed his nerves - it had been five days since his last smoke - and turned his stomach at the same time.

He replaced it into the tin and tucked it back into the drawer.

Might as well go all the way in turning over a new leaf.

* * *

The smell of the Fortune's Favour, the wash of recycled air over her skin... A calm washed over her that made her realize how much she'd missed this place, despite being gone for a little under a week. The patterned clunking of the engines from far below, the tv was on much too loud, and there was the wafting smell of something fantastic from the kitchen.

"Boss! You're back!" Shayne collided into her side and almost knocked her over. The teen buried their face against her side, and Reyna was pretty sure they were trying not to cry.

"Reyna's back!" Pendles announced over the loud noise of the holochannel; it was easy to imagine his lanky form draped all over the ratty couch.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the red and scratched-bronze metal of Foxtrot's helmet peeking out from around the corner and disappearing again. He was probably pissed at her for leaving without saying anything, but their arrangement would keep him silent on the matter.

Maybe it was time that changed too.

At dinner, Reyna spoke of what she'd seen, recounting the details of the "mindwarper" as best she could. She was going to have to pass on this knowledge to Ghalt too, sooner than later, so that they could construct a plan should such a creature venture into this area of space.

The others excitedly bragged about all the things they'd done in her absence: Pendles had expanded his business to another office on Tempest; Toby had finally gotten his flippers on new boosters for Berg; and Shayne had helped around the Ring with keeping everything in check, though there were a few mistakes in a number of supply orders. The only ones not talking were Whiskey and Orendi, and the latter was too busy cramming her mouth full with food, she couldn't care less about the conversation. The old clone, on the other hand, was probably saving his words for when the others weren't around. He never liked confessing such things in front of other people.

So Reyna chose to stay behind after the meal and help clean up, encouraging the others to take her bags to her quarters. They scrambled over each other, fighting tooth and nail to get to them first, leaving the Valkyrie and the "disfigured" clone alone in the kitchen to wash up.

"You were worried," she finally said, after starting scrubbing the fourth plate.

"You're our boss. Someone had to."

"That's not what I mean." She slipped the soapy dish into his sink of water instead of handing it to him.

"How would I know, you left without saying anything. Guess I don't know you as well as I thought."

Reyna was torn between annoyance and amusement that the hardened soldier was sulking _like a child_. To laugh in his face about it, however, would undo everything they'd worked on together. His emotional nature, trust issues, the boundaries they'd established...

"We need to talk."

"Nuh uh, I'm still pissed at you." Whiskey Foxtrot stacked another plate in the rack to dry, a little too hard.

"Not _that_ kind of talk. Actual talk. Like a conversation."

That answer definitely took him by surprise.

"What about?" he responded gruffly. He wasn't getting his hopes up; it was probably something mundane like work or a delivery mission. Another plate clattered into the rack.

"... us."

The plate slipped from his wet fingers and smashed on the ground.

 _Steady, girl_ , Reyna told herself. _You're gonna be alright._


End file.
